He's Not Here
by rainbowfish22
Summary: The only person who sees the real Natalie is Henry. The only person who sees Henry at all is Natalie. Multi-chapter, AU. HenNat.
1. Natalie

**(A/N: Well, here's my first multi-chapter Next to Normal story. It's AU, because…well, for a bunch of reasons that I can't tell because it'll spoil it. Enjoy!)**

He's Not Here

Natalie

"I hate her!" Natalie yells as she slams the door to her room shut. "All my mother wants is perfect grades, perfect piano recitals, perfect everything. Has she ever thought that maybe I don't want to be perfect?"

Henry walks over to Natalie and hugs her tightly. "It's okay," he whispers soothingly. "Who cares what your mom thinks? You're perfect for me, and that's all that matters."

Natalie pulls herself closer to her boyfriend. "She also says you don't exist. You exist. Of course you do. I mean, I wouldn't see you if you didn't exist. Right?" When she gets no answer, she repeats herself. "Right?"

"Right," Henry answers. "Of course."

Natalie never notices that Henry is lying.

**(A/N: Reviews are love!)**


	2. Gabe

**(A/N: Gabe is alive, he's alive, he is so alive. Just so you know. Enjoy!)**

Gabe

Gabe hates seeing his younger sister like this. She used to be happy, she used to have friends, she used to not be stressed out all the time. Now she's always angry or upset, and she's traded her friends in for a boyfriend who doesn't exist.

He wants the old Natalie back.

Gabe used to tell jokes to her to see if she'd laugh, or try to get her to hang out with her friends. He gave that up long ago, and tries to accept that the old Natalie is gone.

But when he hears Natalie crying to someone who doesn't exist, he can't take it. He bursts into his sister's room, grabs her by the shoulders, and yells, "He's not here! Can't you understand that and get on with your life?"

She never does, though.

**(A/N: Reviews are love!)**


	3. Diana

**(A/N: Here's Diana's chapter. Enjoy!)**

Diana

Sometimes Diana hears Natalie whispering to a boy who doesn't exist and wonders if it's her fault.

Diana started her obsession with Natalie being perfect when her daughter was twelve. On Natalie's twelfth birthday, Diana remembered how, when she was twelve, she stopped caring. She didn't do any of her schoolwork, she ignored her parents, and she stayed up all night. And she never saw anything wrong with it until Natalie turned twelve. Diana was determined not to let her daughter turn into herself.

Now Diana can't stop yelling at Natalie, insisting on perfection and nothing less. She's tried so many times to stop, to remind herself that Natalie isn't her, but it never works.

Maybe if she had remembered that she and her daughter weren't the same person, Natalie wouldn't be in her room right now, whispering to a boy who doesn't exist.

**(A/N: Reviews are love!)**


	4. Dr Madden

**(A/N: It's fun to get into Dr. Madden's head. I don't know why. Enjoy!)**

Dr. Madden

Dr. Madden has never had a patient quite like Natalie.

No one else is able to recall their delusions like this—the way Natalie talks about every single detail for hours, from the freckle above Henry's left eyebrow to the scar on his knee that he got falling off a bicycle when he was six.

It's almost enough to convince him that this Henry really does exist. He's nearly brought himself to believing it a few times, until he sees Natalie talking to emptiness like it was Henry.

Nothing works on her—no pills, no hypnosis, nothing. She refuses to let herself accept that Henry doesn't exist.

Sometimes, when Dr. Madden sees how happy Natalie is when she talks about her non-existent boyfriend, he wants to just let her believe.

But that isn't his job.

**(A/N: Reviews are love!)**


	5. Dan

**(A/N: Only one chapter left after this. Enjoy!)**

Dan

Dan wishes he could do more than sit by and watch all of this unfold.

Maybe he should have stopped Diana back when Natalie was twelve. Maybe if he had, Diana wouldn't have driven Natalie to the point of hallucinating up a boyfriend.

"Diana," he says to his wife. "I think maybe you should stop being so strict with Natalie. You know she's not you. She focuses on her grades and practicing piano and stuff."

"I'm not letting my daughter fall into that black hole that I fell into," she snaps. "And I don't care if it is my fault that she's crazy!"

They both fall silent. It's an unspoken rule in their house to not mention Natalie's hallucinations.

Dan asks himself if all of this is just as much his fault as Diana's.

**(A/N: Reviews are love!)**


	6. Henry

**(A/N: Last chapter! I'm working on a sequel, though. Enjoy!)**

Henry

Henry is the only one who understands Natalie. He's the only one who sees her cry, the only one who hugs her, the only one who knows the true Natalie.

He wants Natalie to live outside of him. There are so many people out there who are real, unlike him, and who want to help her—Gabe, Diana, Dr. Madden, Dan.

But he also wants to keep Natalie to himself. He likes being the only one she tells everything to, the only one to comfort her. So he doesn't mention the people who want to help her and continues being the only one Natalie can confide in.

Keeping Natalie with him works for a while, until one day she whispers to him, "You're not really real, are you?"

**(A/N: I hope you guys liked this story, and reviews, as always, are love!)**


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